Composite brush



March 29, 1955 R. o. PETERSON 2,704,854

COMPOSITE BRUSH Filed Nov. 3, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 INVEN TOR. PUBEN O. PETERS 0N QMMMML March 29, 1955 R. o. PETERSON Nov. 3, 1949 United States Patent COMPOSITE BRUSH Ruben 0. Peterson, University Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Osborn Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 3, 1949, Serial No. 125,183

11 Claims. (Cl. 15-182) This invention relates as indicated to a composite brush and more particularly to a brush comprising both stranded brtgfihing material and sheet material in association therew1 In my Patent No. 2,345,422, dated March 28, 1944, I disclose and claim a rotary brush comprising an annular brush back with bristles held therein, together with fabric sides embracing such bristles and radially disposed stitching or the like interconnecting such fabric sides effective to draw the latter together to form a plurality of bristlecontaining pockets. This form of brush has proved very satisfactory in use and is particularly effective in holding and applying powdered abrasive paste and the like to the work. In my co-pending application Serial No. 81,985, filed March 17, 1949, now Patent No. 2,658,315, November 10, 1953, I disclose and claim a novel buff and method of making the same in which a plurality of interconnected fabric discs, for example, may be employed after spreading and pleating the same to provide a superior buff element adapted to continuous production in strip form.

In the manufacture of various types of brushes employing bristles or lengths of stranded brush material, it has in many cases been the usual practice to assemble small bundles of such stranded material which may be temporarily held together bymeans of clips or rubber bands, for example, in order to facilitate handling and uniform distribution of the same in the brush back. A subsequent trimming operation has, however, nearly always been required to even the ends of such brush material in the finished article, Such operations are necessarily rather slow and expensive, involving as they do the use of skilled manual labor, and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the same to a considerable degree.

Buffs constructed entirely of the usual fabric are somewhat limited in their usefulness inasmuch as they are not sufficiently effective applicators of abrasive compounds and the like to perform a cutting down operation as well as can be done by other means such as brushes utilizing treated cord brush material and the like. The term cutting down as employed in the trade refers to the ability of the buffing tool to remove sufiicient of the work-piece surface acted upon to eradicate (polish away) surface irregularities such as slight scratches, nicks, or the orange peel effect produced by drawing operations. The usual buffs, however, do have the ability to apply abrasive to impart a superficial luster generally referred to as color to the work, whereas the usual power operated brushes employing treated cord brush material, for example, are effective in the application of the same abrasive to produce relatively rapid cutting down, are flexible and of readily controlled harshness in their action, but do not ordinarily impart the desired final luster to the surface. Quite frequently, therefore, a brushing operation is first employed to do the major portion of the work and a buffing wheel is then subsequently employed to impart the desired finish.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a novel brushing tool which will be effective in applying abrasive rapidly and efficiently to perform the desired cutting down of the surface and which will also simultaneously apply such abrasive in a manner to impart the desired finish or luster without the necessity of a subsequent special buffing operation.

Another object is to provide a composite brush utilizing both stranded and sheet material in mutually supporting association.

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Still another object is to provide a method of brush manufacture which will greatly simplify the handling of the usual stranded bristle material, adapting the same to continuous operation and avoiding the necessity of the usual final trimming operation.

A further object is to provide a novel brushing tool comprising a plurality of individual sheet material fingers containing stranded brushing material generally centrally therein.

Other objects of my invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a plurality of sheet material discs blanked out with a slight overlap, thereby to interconnect the same;

Fig. 2 is an edgewise view of the interconnected discs of Fig. 1 showing bundles of stranded brush material inserted centrally through apertures in two superimposed layers of such discs;

Fig. 3 shows the assembly of Fig. 2 with such two layers of continuously interconnected discs in process of being formed into a plurality of oppositely directed tubular fingers enclosing such respective bundles of brush material;

Fig. 4 shows the material of Fig. 3 after completion of such finger-forming operation;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view illustrating somewhat diagrammatically the formation of such novel composite brush material into a continuous strip in the general manner shown and described in my prior Patent No. 2,303,386;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view corresponding to Fig.

Fig. 7 is a view in cross-section taken along the line 77 on Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 shows a rotary composite brush assembled as taught in Whittle Patent No. 2,288,337 but employing my novel composite brush material;

Fig. 9 is an edgewise view of the brush of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 shows a length of brush strip circularized in a plurality of helical turns to form a rotary brushing element suitable for mounting on an arbor or the like;

Fig. 11 illustrates diagrammatically a modified method for the continuous production of composite brush material fingers suitable for employment in accordance with one embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the composite brush material elements produced in accordance with the method illustrated in Fig. 11 ready to be fed into a brush assembling machine.

Referring now more particularly to said drawing and especially Figs. 1-4 thereof, I may blank out a plurality of discs 1 from a continuous strip of sheet material (e. g. cloth), with such discs overlapping each other slightly to provide interconnecting portions 2 and thereby preserve the blanked-out material in the form of a continuous strip. Two layers of fabric may be thus simultaneously blanked out or one layer of blanked-out discs may be superimposed upon a similar layer of discs 3 of like dimensions. Cross slots 4 may then be cut through the central portions of such superimposed discs and the tabs 5 formed thereby may be turned back as shown in Fig. 1 to leave a central hole or aperture 6. Such superimposed discs may then be secured together by means of stitching 7 about hole 6 or preferably by the application of adhesive to the turned back tabs 5.

Bundles of stranded brush material 8 are next inserted through the central holes 6 in the respective discs as shown in Fig. 2 and the two layers of sheet material spread apart in opposite directions (Fig. 3) to provide a chain of interconnected pleated fabric fingers 9 (Fig. 4) enclosing such centrally located bundles of stranded brush material. The bundles of brush material are, of

course, of a length so that when the tubular fabric fingers are formed the latter will be of the same length as the enclosed stranded material.

A continuous seriesv of such interconnected fingers 9 may now be fed to a brush strip machine in the same general manner in which the stranded brush material is fed thereto as described in my prior Patent No. 2,303,386, being placed transversely of a flat metal strip 10 with a retaining element such as wire 11 disposed lengthwise therealong to secure such fingers within the channel-form back produced by turning up the side portions of strip 10 to form the channel sides 12 and 13. The resulting strip may be mounted in any form of holder desired or may be circularized either helically or to form an annular channel-form brush back 14 adapted to be seated on an arbor or otherwise mounted with the fabric fingers 9 extending substantially radially therefrom. Or an annular brush may be produced as taught in Whittle Patent No. 2,288,337 employing my composite brush fingers instead of bristles alone.

As shown in Fig. 10, a length of brush strip formed inaccordance with this invention may be helically wound with the fingers 9 extending radially and then mounted on a suitable mandrel or arbor between appropriate clamping plates. Frequently adaptors will be desired and a brush mounted as taught in my prior Patent No. 2,409,309 will be particularly well ventilated and cool in operation. Teeth 15 punched in from the sides 12 and 13 of the channel-form back in accordance with my prior Patent No. 2,303,386 will assist in securing the elongated retaining member 11 in place and also by penetrating the sheet material will further reinforce the construction.

Various modifications of the foregoing constructions and methods of assembly are obvious without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example, the fabric discs may be individually blanked out and then adhered or stitched together at 2 rather than being blanked in the indicated slightly overlapping relationship. Or individual pairs of discs may be superimposed to form two layers without being laterally connected at their edges to other adjacent pairs. In such latter case the brush material containing fingers will be formed into the finished strip as illustrated in Figs. and 6 but will require to be supplied to the metal strip forming the channel back in much the same manner that the individual strands of brush material are supplied to the backing strip as described. in my Patent No. 2,303,386. By interconnecting the pairs of discs at their edges and thereby interconnecting the pairs of fingers (Fig. 4), the brush material elements are, however, considerably better adapted to be automatically transported to the strip machine and a more uniform density of fill in the finished article is assured.

The sheet material employed should, of course, be flexible in nature and of a type adapted to have the desired etfect upon the work-piece. Depending upon the particular operation for which the finished tool is designal, such sheet material may comprise various types of woven cloth and other textile fabric, imperforate plastic sheet material, perforated plastic sheet material, and the like. Thus, cotton cloth, nylon (polyamide resins), Pliofilm (rubber hydrochloride) or paper sheets may be entirely suitable in various embodiments of my invention and various other natural or manufactured materials may be employed.

Furthermore, if desired, more than two layers of discs may be superimposed and secured together as shown in Fig. 1 to form oppositely directed tubular pleated fingers in which each finger enclosing a bundle of stranded brush material comprises more than a single layer of fabric. For example, four layers of discs may be thus superimposed and centrally secured together and then separated with two layers extending in one direction and the other two layers extending in the opposite direction. In order that the fingers may be uniform the number of layers of discs employed will ordinarily be some multiple of two.

The sheet material discs may be coated with suitable abrasive material such as emery, corundum, Alundum and the like together with an appropriate adhesive, or such abrasive may be applied simply by dusting the same onto the textile fabrics or by pressing the same into the plastic sheets. Ora small amount of a solvent may be applied with the abrasive to the plastic sheet material to cause the abrasive particles to become cemented thereto when the solvent evaporates. Still another suitable type of fabric for my purpose is disclosed in Radford Patent No. 2,328,998 with abrasive incorporated in the fabric strands. When the sheet material has been bunched into finger form as shown in Fig. 4, a small amount of adhesive may be applied to assist in retaining this condition.

The sheet material need not necessarily be cut in disc form although this is preferred, but a strip of fabric may merely be partially slit to form a series or chain of inter connected squares. When the sheet material is used in this form, however, it will ordinarily be necessary subsequently to trim the finished article to desired contour. In either case tubular pleated sheet material fingers are provided enclosing stranded brush material therein and interconnected at their outer ends for continuous feeding to the backing strip. Such interconnection of the outer ends of adjacent pairs of fingers also assists in maintaining the desired uniformity density of the material in the channel brush back.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the spreading of the two or more layers of sheet material in opposite directions results in a maximum density of such material at the respective outer ends of the fingers, this being of especial importance when an annular or helical brush is to be formed. It also minimizes the thickness of such fingers midway of their length at the point where the same are to be doubled and secured in the channel-form brush back by means of Wire 11.

The composite brush material of this invention may be utilized in many forms of brush back to produce a variety of brushes such as cup brushes and the like.

Referring now to Fig. 11 of the drawing, I there illus trate somewhat diagrammatically another method of producing a modified embodiment of a composite brush element in accordance with my invention. As shown, a continuous strip 16 of sheet material such as a textile fabric is drawn 'from a reel 17 thereof and a continuous bundle of stranded brush material 18 is drawn from a reel 19 thereof and laid upon such fabric strip. Such fabric is folded at 20 to enclose the stranded brush material in a tubular sheath and the overlapping edges of the strip are stitched or adhesively adhered together at station 21. The resultant continuous fabric tube with stranded brush material therein is' next stitched transversely at desired spaced intervals at station 22 and then severed at station 23 at points midway between such points of transverse stitching.

The resultant. brush material element or unit is illustrated in Fig. 12 comprising a somewhat flattened tubular sheath 24 enclosing a bundle of brush material strands 25, such sheath being stitched longitudinally at 26 and transversely at 27. This unit or brushing finger may now be employed similarly to fingers 9 in the manner illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, for example, to produce a continuous brush element, the finger being folded along the line of stitching 27 and secured beneath the retaining wire 11 in this central region.

The brush material employed in either of the abovedescribed embodiments of my invention may comprise any of the usually employed materials, including tam ico fiber, sisal fiber, horsehair, synthetic plastic monofilaments such as nylon, cord, particularly braided cord. and wire. While the brush material will ordinarily be drawn from a supply thereof in the form of a continuous bundle, such bundle may comprise a large number of relatively short strands sufiiciently intermingled to permit the same to be handled as a unit.

Brush material suitable for bufiing operations is often difficult to handle. Forming the same into bundles enclosed within an outer sheet material sheath greatly simplifies the subsequent brush making operations. In the Fig. 12 embodiment instead of employing transverse stitching 27 staples, for example, may be utilized or no such transverse securing means may be employed at all. Such stitching or stapling, however, is of considerable advantage, compacting the bundle centrally at the point where it is to be secured beneath a retaining element in the brush back and also tending to prevent loss of brush material from the bundle. Instead of longitudinal stitching 26 an adhesive may be applied to secure the sheet material sheath about the bundle of stranded brush material. The fabric or other sheet material thus folded to form the outer sheath may comprise a plurality of layers, if desired, in order to increase the proportion of such fabric to stranded material at the brush face. In this manner the brushing characteristics of the finished tool may be modified to suit the particular purpose for which the tool is intended. Furthermore, bristle material of various degrees of harshness and snap action may be utilized and powdered abrasives may be supplied to the brush in use.

Fabric sheathed bundles of brush material formed in accordance with the method of Fig. 11 may also be inserted in the central openings of the fabric discs, thereby combining the features and advantages of both embodiments.

As shown in Fig. 8, the brushing tool by whichever method formed may desirably be stitched as at fairly closely adjacent the brush back. This tends to secure adjacent fingers together and slightly increase the rigidity of the finished article. When thus stitched it is also possible to assemble bundles of bristle material with two spaced sleeves or sheaths enclosing their respective end portions but leaving the mid portions exposed. When doubled and retained in the brush back, the sleeves are wholly outside such back, improving ventilation of the brush and reducing the thickness of the material which must be held in the back.

The new brushing tool produced in accordance with my invention wears very well in use and is well balanced. It combines both desirable cutting qualities and desirable finishing qualities with economy of manufacture.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. The method of manufacturing a composite bristle and fabric brushing tool which comprises cutting two superimposed layers of slightly overlapping discs from strips of such fabric, slitting such fabric centrally of such discs to form tabs, turning back such tabs to form central openings through such discs, securing such superimposed discs together closely adjacent such central openings, inserting bundles of bristle material through such respective openings, spreading apart such superimposed layers to form a chain of tubular pleated fingers interconnected at their ends and each enclosing a bundle of bristle material, doubling such fingers about a wire retaining member adjacent their midpoints, securing such doubled fingers within a unitary channelform back, and circularizing such back to form a rotary brushing element.

2. The method of producing a rotary brushing tool which comprises cutting out a continuous series of mterconnected fabric discs, superimposing one such series of discs on another similar series, cutting openings centrally through the respective discs, joining the superimposed pairs of discs closely adjacent such central openings therethrough, inserting a bundle of generally parallel brush material strands through each of such openings, separating such superimposed dlSCS, except where thus joined adjacent their centers, to form pairs of oppositely extending inverted conical pleated fingers connected at their outer extremities to adjacent pairs thereof and enclosing such respective bundlespf brush material, placing the resulting chain of composite brushing elements longitudinally of a continuous metal strip with such fingers extending transversely thereof, placing an elongated retaining member on such cham of composite brush elements longitudinally of such strip, forming such strip to channel form with such joined apices of such conical fingers secured therein beneath such retaining member, and circularizing such strip with such fingers extending generally radially outwardly.

3. The method of producing a composite brushing tool which comprises interconnecting a plurality of discs of buffing material at their edges to form a continuous chain, superimposing one such chain on a similar chain of discs to form superimposed pairs of such discs, cutting openings centrally through each such superimposed pair of discs, joining the discs of each such pair together adjacent such respective central openings, inserting a bundle of generally parallel brush material strands through such respective central openings, separating such superimposed discs to the extent permitted by the joining of their center portions to form pairs of oppositely extending generally conical tubular pleated fingers connected at their outer extremities to adjacent pairs thereof and enclosing such respective bundles of brush material therein, and securing such pairs of fingers to a self-sustaining supporting member at the point of central joining of such fingers, such fingers being doubled back at such point of joining and extending from such supporting member in side-by-side relationship.

4. The method of producing a composite brush element which comprises joining a plurality of pairs of discs of flexible sheet material adjacent their centers, such discs having central openings therethrough, inserting bundles of brush material through such respective central openings, separating such discs of each such pair,

except where thus joined, to form pairs of oppositely extending generally tubular fingers respectively enclosing bundles of brush material, and securing such pairs to a supporting member adjacent the point of joining of such oppositely extending fingers.

5. The method of producing a composite brush element which comprises forming a plurality of bundles of brush material, enclosing each such bundle in a tubular sheath of flexible sheet material, interconnecting such sheaths to form a continuous chain with such sheathed bundles disposed in side-by-side arrangement, continuously advancing such chain longitudinally of a strip of backing material with such sheathed bundles extending transversely thereof, placing an elongated retaining member on such chain of bundles longitudinally of such strip, and forming such strip to channel form with the midpoints of such sheathed bundles secured therein beneath such retaining member and the end portions of such bundles extending from such back in generally parallel relationship to each other.

6. A rotary brushing tool comprising a circularized metal channelform back opening radially outwardly, and composite brushing material retained therein and extending generally radially therefrom comprising pairs of fabric discs having central openings therethrough and joined together adjacent such openings, said pairs of discs being otherwise separated to form pairs of generally conical tubular pleated fingers, bundles of brush material strands passing through such central openings and enclosed within said respective tubular fingers, said fingers being connected to adjacent pairs of fingers near their outer extremities, and an elongated retaining member overlying such pairs of fingers at their points of joining and thereby securing the same in said channelform back with said fingers extending generally radially therefrom in side-by-side relationship.

7. A rotary brushing tool comprising a circularized metal channelform back opening radially outwardly, and composite brushing material retained therein and extending generally radially therefrom comprising pairs of flexible sheet material discs having central openings therethrough and joined together adjacent such openings but otherwise separated to form pairs of generally conical tubular pleated fingers, bundles of brushing material inserted through such central openings and enclosed with- 1n said respective tubular fingers, and an elongated retaining member overlying such pairs of fingers at their points of joining and thereby securing the same in said channelform back with said fingers extending generally radially therefrom in side-by-side relationship.

8. A brushing element for use in rotary brushing tools and the like comprising two fabric sheets having central openings therethrough and joined together adjacent such openings, said sheets being separated except where thus joined to form a pair of generally conical tubular pleated fingers, and a bundle of brush material inserted through such openings and enclosed within such tubular fingers.

9. A rotary brushing tool comprising a support and a plurality of brushing elements secured thereto and extending therefrom in generally radial side-by-side relationship, said elements comprising bundles of bristles with sheet material sheaths enclosing the same, said sheaths comprising a greater quantity of sheet material at the outer end portions of said bundles than at the inner end portions thereof thereby providing tapered brushing elements, the inner, narrower ends of said elements being secured to said support at spaced intervals therealong to afford ventilating passages therebetween while at the same time the outer wider ends of said elements nevertheless afiord a relatively dense working face of the tool.

10. A brushing tool comprising a support and a plurality of brushing elements secured thereto and extending therefrom in generally side-by-side relationship, said elements comprising bundles of brush material, each said bundle being enclosed in a flexible sheet material sheath and secured to said support in general side-by-side relationship, said sheathed bundles tapering from their outer ends toward the point of securing to said support and having a greater proportion of said sheet material in their outer end portions than in the portions adjacent said support.

11. A rotary brushing tool comprising a generally circular brush back and a plurality of composite brushing elements secured thereto and extending generally radially therefrom, said elements comprising separately extending References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 249,914 Eno Nov. 22, 1881 284,705 Abbe Sept. 11, 1883 865,098 Gaudron Sept. 3, 1907 2,004,623 Yohe June 11, 1935 2,345,730 Cax Apr. 4, 1944 2,363,685 Neuschaeferv Nov. 28, 1944 

